1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus in which, when a focusing operation is manually performed while confirming a subject image displayed on a monitor, a plurality of areas in the subject image displayed on the monitor are enlarged and displayed at the same time. The present invention also relates to an imaging method and an imaging program for operating the imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital camera as an imaging apparatus having a manual mode has been known. Here, the manual mode is an imaging mode where a focus processing for manually driving a focus lens to focus on a subject is performed. Such an imaging apparatus has a display device for visually confirming whether or not the imaging apparatus is focused on the subject.
For example, a single-lens reflex type imaging apparatus has a display device which is an optical finder on which an optical image of a subject obtained via an imaging optical system is displayed so as to be visually confirmed. On the other hand, a so-called compact type imaging apparatus has a display device which is not an optical finder but a liquid crystal monitor provided on a back side of the imaging apparatus.
When photographing in a manual mode in the compact type imaging apparatus, focus adjustment, that is, an operation for driving a focus lens and adjusting a focus on the subject is performed while visually confirming a subject image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor. The image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is an image of a whole imaging field of view. Therefore, in some cases, it is difficult to judge a focused state when it is required to focus on a specific part of the subject image.
In order to solve the above problem, an imaging apparatus having a function of enlarging and displaying a part of an imaging field of view on a liquid crystal monitor has been known (see, for example, Japan Patent Number 4141800). In the imaging apparatus disclosed in Japan Patent Number 4141800, a part to be enlarged can be manually specified and the specified part is enlarged and displayed. Thereby, it is easy to visually confirm a focus state of the part of the whole imaging field of view. However, if a photo opportunity comes in the middle of the operation for specifying a part to be enlarged, the photo opportunity is missed. Especially if one part is judged to be enlarged after another part is judged to be enlarged instead, operations and processings for enlarging and displaying the one part are required so that quick operation cannot be achieved.
Then, an imaging apparatus in which a part to be enlarged and displayed may be quickly specified without missing photo opportunities has been known (see, for example, Japan Patent Application Publication Number 2003-189136). In the imaging apparatus, a photographer's line of sight to the whole imaging field of view is specified and the part viewed by the photographer is enlarged and displayed based on the line of sight. However, the imaging apparatus disclosed in Japan Paten Application Publication Number 2003-189136 requires a sensor for detecting an eye movement of the photographer and configurations for specifying the photographer's line of sight based on information detected by the sensor. A single-lens reflex type imaging apparatus may have such a sensor and configurations. However, it is difficult for a compact type imaging apparatus to have them because of increase of size and manufacturing cost.